This post has been contributed by a third party. The opinions, facts and any media content here are presented solely by the author, and The Times of Israel assumes no responsibility for them. In case of abuse, report this post.

Will the Real Obstacle to Peace Please Stand Up?

Blogger

Zach Stern
Zach is the Managing Director of ZOA Campus, the campus branch of the Zionist Organization of America. Before working for
… [More]the ZOA, he worked in Israel advocacy in Tel Aviv. Zach is a graduate of the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism. [Less]

The only liberal democracy in the Middle East announces that 988 acres of land in the Judean Hills (all of which is designated for Israel in a two-state solution) is now state-owned land.

Israel’s recent announcement is clearly the obstacle to peace, at least according to the international community and world leaders’ recent outrage over this announcement.

But let’s take a look at the facts. The land Israel announced as state-owned consists of less than 1,000 acres of the nearly 1.4 million-acre West Bank. This means that Israel announced claims to roughly 0.07 percent of the entire West Bank.

Furthermore, the land in question sits in the Etzion Bloc of the Judean Hills, which has been recognized by the Western World as land that would remain in Israel if a Palestinian state is created.

Finally, the land in question sits in Area C, which the Palestinians themselves acknowledged (by signing the Oslo Accords) as under Israeli control.

The world focuses on Israel’s announcement that it wants to keep land that belongs to it and land that poses no threat to a potential Palestinian state. The world says that this – not the PA’s promotion of genocide and terrorism and its 50-year campaign to annihilate the Jewish state – is the obstacle to peace.

To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.

By signing up, you agree to our
terms
You hereby accept The Times of Israel Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and you agree to receive the latest news & offers from The Times of Israel and its partners or ad sponsors.